| 释义 |
▪ I. smirch, n.|smɜːtʃ|
Also 7 smyrch.
[f. next.]
1. A dirty mark or smear; a stain; a smudge; also, that which smirches or dirties.
a1688Bunyan Saints' Privilege & Profit Wks. 1855 I. 647 That men might see their smyrches when they came to wash. a1688― Water of Life (1838) 430 Crystal..is without those spots and streaks and smirches that are in other precious stones. 1850Allingham Poems, Wayside Well viii, Sheltered cool and free from smirch In thy cavelet shady. 1863J. Thomson Sunday at Hampstead i. v, Away from the smoke and the smirch. 1890Doyle White Company iv, The fellow was but a brown smirch upon the yellow road.
2. fig. A moral stain or flaw; a blot or blemish; a fault or defect.
1862T. A. Trollope Marietta iii, One who had blemished the fair escutcheon of the family by a smirch of heresy. 1877L. Morris Epic of Hades iii. 241 Before the soil And smirch of sadder knowledge..Sully its primal whiteness. 1897Outing XXIX. 559/2 That strange insensibility to the sufferings of animals which draws such an ugly smirch across the whole Latin race.
▪ II. smirch, v.|smɜːtʃ|
Also 5–6 smorch, 7 smerch, smyrch.
[app. ad. OF. esmorcher to torment, torture (as by the application of hot metal), with slight transference of sense.]
1. trans. Of things: To make dirty, soil, sully, or discolour (something) by contact or touch.
1495Trevisa's Barth. De P.R. xvi. lxxx. 579 Leed hathe a manere nesshnes, and smorcheth his honde that towchyth it. 1572J. Bossewell Armorie ii. 77 The stalke therof broken, smorcheth them that touche it all with yealow. 1615G. Sandys Trav. 268 Chaos and ragg'd stone Smircht with blacke Pumice, there reioyce, ore-growne with mournfull Cypresse. 1791Cowper Odyss. xix. 12 [Weapons] smirch'd and sullied by the breath of fire. 1791― Iliad xxiii. 338 A cauldron of four measures, never smirch'd By smoke or flame. 1805–6Cary Dante, Inf. xv. 26 His parch'd looks..smirch'd with fire. 1834Taylor Philip van Artevelde i. v, Twinkles the re-illuminated star, And all is out of sight that smirched the ray. 1844Hood Workho. Clock 28 Dingy with smoke..And smirch'd besides with vicious soil. 1894Sala London up to date i. vii, The rain beats down on the smoke, and the smoke on the fog; and all three..smirch your face and hands.
b. To tan (the face). rare—1.
1828Scott F.M. Perth x, The sun was high, It smirch'd her cheek, it dimm'd her eye.
2. Of persons (or animals): To stain, smear, or befoul (the face, person, etc.) with or by means of something dirty or having staining properties. Also refl. and with adjectival complement.
1600Shakes. A.Y.L. i. iii. 114 Ile put my selfe in poore and meane attire, And with a kinde of vmber smirch my face. 1615G. Sandys Trav. 215 By chance his dog..smerched his lips with the tincture. 1853Arnold Sohrab & Rustum 711 He seiz'd..the dust which lay around, And threw it on his head, and smirch'd his hair. 1865Kingsley Herew. II. xi. 166, I will go..and smirch myself brown with walnut-leaves.
3. transf. To cast discredit or disgrace upon (a person, his honour, etc.); to bring into ill-repute; to taint or tarnish. Said of actions, etc., or of persons.
(a)1820Scott Monast. xxv, In public opinion, their names will be smirched and sullied with a stain which his tardy efforts cannot entirely efface. 1878Jefferies Gamekeeper at H. 216 Their infamy spreads abroad, smirching the whole class to which they belong. 1887T. A. Trollope What I remember II. x. 173 Those lower thoughts as well as lower passions which smirch the human soul.
(b)1856Aytoun Bothwell i. xv, They durst not so have wronged their blood, And smirched their fair renown. 1870Dixon Tower II. xxxi. 319 No man's name..had yet been smirched by Carr. 1885–94R. Bridges Eros & Psyche Mar. xix, He changeth dynasties, and on the head Of duteous heroes..Smircheth the laurel that can never die.
Hence ˈsmircher; ˈsmirching vbl. n.
1495Trevisa's Barth. De P.R. viii. xvii. 327 He [sc. the moon] semyth not wemmyd wyth noo specles and smorchynge. 1862T. A. Trollope Marietta ii, Unrevealed smirchings of noble names. 1888Scottish Leader 11 July 4 There will soon not be a place left in his character on which the amateur smircher may operate. |